The Pitstops of Trust (Wendip Week Prompt 3)
by Brady Corduroy
Summary: Wendy and Dipper learn the consequences of a lack of trust during a road trip. Wendip Week Prompt 3


***So these next two prompts actually connect into one story if that sounds cool :D Also sorry in advance that this one is rather sad, had a lot of trouble putting it all together***

 **The Pitstops of Trust**

For Dipper Pines, even at now twenty years young, the early rise wasn't all that demanding for him as he often was up not too long after sunrise most days. Still most of those mornings revolved around going to class or researching, not packing clothing in the back of his best friend's Silverado. In the glare of the rising sunlight, he could barely see the owner of the car, the girl who had become his closest friend over the years, although he could hear her talking to him just fine.

"Hey dude, put your bag in there already." Wendy Corduroy asked of him. "It's already past seven and I've been awake since like five. Let's pick up the pace if we wanna make it to the bridge by evening!"

 _It's too early for this._ Dipper thought to himself as he threw his bag into the back of the truck. _I just woke up, I'm not ready for this._

He had always known the morning of the trip to see the Golden Gate Bridge was going to be a lot more hellish than it sounded when they planned it months ago, but that didn't make any less so when it finally came. He was still attempting to acquaint himself with his surroundings; Wendy's truck, while not new, was much more improved on the front from the first time he'd seen it, dented and all, a result of a "gnome sighting" as she had put it.

The inside of the truck was much as he'd remembered it, unorganized and messy throughout, yet still somehow usable. Sitting in the passenger seat, Dipper felt small and uncomfortable compared to the great heighth of the driver's seat Wendy would sit in. A moment or two later Wendy opened her door to enter.

"Alright ready d-" She begun before falling down onto her face in the ground.

"Oh my God, are you ok?" He asked her. Wendy promptly got up and wiped the dirt and murk out her face. It was then Dipper realized how worn and tired she looked: the deep bags under her eyes resembled something reminiscent of what an all nighter would give, her eyes themselves looked dilated and out of proportion, along with rather shaky hands.

"Yeah I'm fine dude…" She said rather unconvincingly.

"I don't know, maybe you should sleep a little and I should drive. I mean I know the way t-" Dipper began before Wendy hushed him.

"Dude I'm fine." She said a little more strongly. "Trust me."

… _And this is the down side of a crush._ Dipper thought to himself as he ceded control of the driver's side to her once more.

A few hours had passed since the morning debacle and it had been smooth sailing to this point. The digital clock on the car radio read "11:27 AM" meaning that they were almost halfway there, hour four of an eleven hour journey. Although she had done well, Wendy looked no less tired, if not even more so. Her shoulders had begun to sag, her eyes bags now reaching the point where they were dropping off her face for some suspended slight of motion and she just plainly didn't look good at all to Dipper.

 _She looks like she's seen Cipher again._ He thought to himself. _We need to stop asap._

"Uh Wendy, are you hungry at all?" Dipper asked rather quietly. "Maybe we could take a break and get some food and relax?"

"No." Wendy said. "I'm fine."

"Well I'm kinda hungry…" Dipper lied, not really feeling the rumbling in his stomach so much as the twisting, worried knotting in there.

"Well we're making too good of time to stop and kill it at some pancake shop, if I'm speaking quite frankly." She said.

"Well if I'm speaking quite frankly, then I'd say I should drive." Dipper said. "You look like you can barely focus right now!" He had raised his voice more than he had expected, it now matching the worry he had held in for the last four hours.

"I'm fine!" Wendy said as she began to make a sharp right turn, but as she did so, the car made a screeching sound. The tires were no longer going right, but now in three different directions for what could've only been no more than 20 seconds but felt like hours at the moment. The truck barreled right towards a grouping of trees, the only thing saving them from certain wreck and death being Dipper pulling the emergency braking, stopping the car just short of such, and merely on the edge of the road.

Wendy did nothing except drop the keys by a tearing Dipper and go into the back of the car. She knew it was all her fault for not trusting him. No one did or said a thing for an hour, although Wendy looked asleep (she wasn't though.) She heard the truck finally start up, Dipper being the one to do so. Although she didn't look up, she felt his presence over him and then felt his lips as he pecked her on the head.

She finally began sleeping at this moment, hearing him faintly say "I …. trust… still…." each word becoming less understandable as she fell asleep, hoping when she awoke the guilt of the world would escape her.

(To Be Continued)


End file.
